Case studies show ways affordable housing can improve health

Three new case studies from the National Housing Conference addresses how better housing can lead to improved health outcomes. The case studies, Collaborating with Housing Quality Stakeholders to Reduce Home Health Risks, Addressing Housing as a Health Care Treatment and Using Health Care Savings to Construct Supportive Housing in New York, affirm previous research showing that access to stable and affordable housing is an important social determinant of mental, physical and emotional health. When housing is unaffordable or located in high-stress environments, residents tend to experience more debilitating health concerns. But people who have access to stable, affordable, high-quality housing tend to be in better health, which leads to lower health care expenditures. As the case studies reveal, low-quality housing, and lack of affordable housing, is a challenge that both housing developers and health care organizations can tackle collectively to achieve better health outcomes.